


Will The Circle Be Unbroken

by MsFaust



Series: Inky Tales [160]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Happy Ending, Mild Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 15:18:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15537096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsFaust/pseuds/MsFaust
Summary: Henry's nightmare is finally over.





	Will The Circle Be Unbroken

It had been thirty years since Henry Walters had died, and in that time, Joey Drew Studios--now known as Sillyvision--had joined Disney, Warner Brothers, and several other animation companies at the top. Drew himself had died five years after Henry, and his daughter Linda, who succeeded him as head of the company, honored his last wish by completing the Ink Machine in the original workshop (while Sillyvision was now run out of a much larger and more technically advanced building, the original studio was still their property). She then used it to being Bendy, Boris, and Alice to life as the first living Toons in existence.

Making the old studio their home, the Toons split their time between advising the staff, learning what they could about the human world, and indulging in nostalgic viewings of the original cartoons. But early one morning, things changed.

(BATIM)

The sound of the machine stirring woke Bendy from his slumber. Careful not to wake Boris or Alice, he slid out of bed, put on his watch (he'd gotten it as a birthday present) and headed to the Machine Room.

Who or what could the Machine be making?

Just as he entered, the Machine deposited an ink-covered form onto the floor. As the ink flowed off, Bendy was surprised to see a cartoon version of a man he'd only seen in photos kneeling on the ground, panting heavily.

"Henry?"

Turning sharply, the man looked up at Bendy. His eyes widened as they darted around, taking everything in.

"It's over," he murmured, voice trembling in disbelief. "It's finally over."

Tears of relief began to flow down his cheeks. Immediately, Bendy ran over and hugged him.

"Bendy, what's going on?" asked Boris as he and Alice entered. "Wait, is that...?"

"It is," Bendy confirmed. "And I think I know what happened."

Years ago, Joey had started on a full-length film called The Illusion of Living, depicting an animator based heavily on his longtime friend going through a Dante's Inferno-inspired journey. However, it was never finished, so apparently Henry's mind made up the missing parts. Truth be told, Henry didn't seem to mind that he wasn't the original. He was just glad to be out of the horror show he'd been trapped in for so long.

"Should we ask him what happened?" Boris wondered aloud as he, Bendy, and Alice comforted the new Toon.

"Not now," Alice said. "When he's ready."

Bendy glanced at his watch. "It's almost eight. They should be here soon."

"I'm telling you, it doesn't work that way!"

All four Toons perked up at the shouting.

"Speak of the devil..."

Helping Henry to his feet, Bendy led them into the hall, where Shawn and Grant were arguing. Several other staff members were watching the argument with varying degrees of interest and/or exasperation.

"It's not physically possible to be two-thirds anything, much less two-thirds god."

"Tell that to the Babylonians, or whoever it was that came up with him."

Bendy cleared his throat, prompting everyone to turn and see the Toon counterpart of one of the studio's founders standing alongside the Dancing Demon.

"Bendy, explain."

(BATIM)

About ten minutes later, everyone had gathered in the break room to hear Bendy's explanation. In the meantime, Boris and Alice had scrounged up some colored ink--drinking it would put color into Henry, as the Machine had recreated him in black, white, and grey.

"So the Machine took one of Joey's old ideas and used it to bring Henry back?"

"Kind of," Bendy said with a shrug. "Sure he's got the same memories, but he ain't the original Henry."

"Original or not, he's got a lot of healing to do." Alice handed a bottle of blue ink to Henry, who accepted it with a nod of thanks. "He had to go through a nightmare over and over, and now that he's out..."

"Say no more," Susie told her.

"You know, I think it might actually make a good horror game," Wally mused. "Got this pal who's looking to be a game developer."

"Are you talking about the puppet guy?" Thomas asked, watching Henry's shirt turn from grey to blue as the Toon finished off the ink.

"He's not actually a puppet, you know."

Wally gave Sammy a look. "I know that, but I don't know what he actually looks like."

"Maybe we should talk about it later," Norman suggested. "There's still a lot of folks he has to meet--after all, there ain't many of the old crowd left besides me."

After Thomas made a quick trip to the bathroom, the group left for the new studio, Bendy happily telling Henry stories about some of what had happened over the past thirty years. It would take some time for Henry to recover from all he'd been through, but with these new friends, he would heal.

Everything would be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Note: Aside from Norman, Jack, and Bertrum, the named characters didn't start working for Sillyvision until after Joey's death.


End file.
